Recently with remarkable changes in living environment, the number of families in which individuals take meals at different times has been increasing. Accordingly, insulating boxes and insulating storage containers are used to keep the cooked food warm, thereby avoiding the trouble of having to perform cooking many times.
On the other hand, a refrigerator provided with a temperature switching compartment in addition to a freezer compartment and refrigeration compartment is disclosed in Patent Document 1. This refrigerator includes a damper for opening/closing a passage for cold air to be delivered to the temperature switching compartment and a heater for increasing the temperature of the temperature switching compartment, thereby permitting the internal temperature of the temperature switching compartment to be switched to a desired low temperature range, such for freezing, refrigeration, partial, and chilled, in response to a user's usage.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-H10-288440